Missing Piece
by cardiothoracicwhore
Summary: "Well, maybe you want to be your own piece? I can be someone's and still my own." — Shel Silverstein   AU: Cristina meets Dr. Owen Hunt in Istanbul Turkey, working with MSF. Can he show her that you true love doesn't mean compromising yourself?


Authors Note: Let me know what you think, I've never written an AU story before. Leave your opinions below.

"Thanks for coming with me Mer, two weeks with my mother at an interior design conference probably would've left one of us dead," Cristina chuckled, putting her sunglasses on to block out the bright middle eastern sun. "What I don't understand is who would travel all the way to the middle east for an interior design convention," Meredith slipped her arm through Cristina's as the two of them weaved through people exploring the city of Istanbul.

"That's what I told my mom, but she couldn't be stopped. Whatever, I'm just mad I had to take two weeks off of work for this. Karev is probably getting all the good cardio cases," Cristina whined, sipping from her water bottle. Meredith rolled her eyes, but silently she agreed with her best friend. Missing two weeks of work would be killer, but because she loved her person, she'd made the sacrifice.

"All I ever hear you complaining about is how boring Seattle Grace is, and how it doesn't challenge you anymore," Meredith teased. Meredith was right; Cristina didn't feel the rush she used to back home. Regardless of her personal fallout with Burke, she missed him as a mentor because he truly helped her reach her full potential as a cardio goddess. Now that he was gone, she'd decided to move on from love, and made a promise to herself that she wouldn't stop until she was on top of the world. Lately, she felt like that would never happen in Seattle.

"Earth to Cristina," Meredith pulled Cristina out of her dream-like trance. "I'd take boring surgery over no surgery at all," Cristina shrugged, leading Meredith into a café. "Let's grab something, I've been dying to eat something after all the horrible plane food," she sat next to the window. Meredith rummaged around in her purse until she located the international cell phone she'd purchased to keep in touch with Derek while overseas.

"Damn it, this thing has no service," Meredith groaned, holding it up in the air, as if she thought suddenly she'd get service. Meredith and Derek had decided to move in together, and Derek was taking these two weeks to move everything out of the trailer and into the frat house. Meredith loved Derek, but Cristina knew she was still worried about letting Derek into her house, and completely into her life. "Mer, just wait until we get back to the hotel. Let's order, I'm starving," Cristina scanned the menu, relieved it had been translated into English.

A young looking waiter came over and was about to ask for their order, when someone stumbled through the door, the bell clanging. It was a young Arab man, probably in his late twenties. His hands were splayed across his chest, which was spurting blood from it. As he collapsed to the floor, a young woman ran in, tears flowing down her face. "Please help my husband, he's been shot. Please, is anyone here a doctor," the poor woman asked, kneeling over her husband.

"I am," Cristina rose, just as a man sitting in the corner booth did. Together they rushed over to the wounded man and began triaging. "GSW to the chest appears to be dangerously near the aorta," the strange man told her in a quick, professional tone. Reaching for the man's wrist, Cristina felt for his pulse. "Pulse is weak, but it's there," she responded, before moving towards the man's mouth to listen for breath sounds.

"Shit, no break sounds," she told him, noticing the patient's lack of breath. Suddenly the main reached for his throat, indicating that he'd lost all air supply. "Pneumothorax," both Cristina and the man said at the same time. "Meredith, get me the sharpest knife you can find and a straw," Meredith sprang into action. Within minutes, the three of them had managed to fashion a temporary chest tube, helping the man breathe. Just then, the emergency vehicle pulled up, and two emts ran in with a stretcher. "You two go, I'll fill them in and talk with the police," Meredith yelled, and turned to speak with one of the emts.

Cristina and the other doctor loaded the man into the ambulance, and climbed into the back. They quickly climbed in, and hooked him up to oxygen. The man gave the man some morphine, and the two released a sigh of relief that they'd finally gotten the patient stable. "He's going to need a thoracotomy," Cristina murmured, watching the city flash past the window. How are the hospitals here?" she asked, hoping the other doctor knew the local hospitals here.

The man shrugged, "I'm not sure, I've only been here for a few days. I'm a doctor with Doctors without Borders. Maybe I can pull some strings, if you'd be interested in scrubbing in. By the way, I'm Dr. Owen Hunt," Owen stuck his hand out. Cristina smiled, "Dr. Cristina Yang, from Seattle Grace Hospital in Washington."

"What brings you all the way over here?" Owen asked, curious as to why this girl would've traveled many miles. "My mother dragged me here for some interior design conference, my step-father backed out at the last minute," she rolled her eyes, which Owen found quite appealing. He took notice of how gorgeous she was, even covered in blood. "I hate missing surgery," Cristina sighed, causing Owen to smile.

The ambulance screeched to a halt, and the emts opened the back doors. "Who are these people?" asked the doctor who'd come out to meet the ambulance. Owen cleared his throat and spoke quickly. "I'm Owen Hunt, a doctor with Doctors without Borders, and this is Dr. Cristina Yang, and we'll be operating on this man. I need a O.R. booked now," Owen ordered sending people to complete his requests.

"Bad ass," Cristina whispered, chuckling slightly. Owen threw Cristina a wink before wheeling the man out of the ambulance. "This might be your luck day Cristina, are you ready to scrub it?" Owen asked. Cristina nodded, "Let's go."


End file.
